The Claw of the Conciliator

by Gene Wolfe

If the writer had wanted to describe a new way to make wine or the best way to make love, he could have used complex and accurate language. But in the book he really wrote he had to say, “In the beginning was only the hexaemeron,” or “It is not to see the icon standing still, but to see the still standing.”

‘Dine at dawn to open your eyes, Dine at noon that you be strong. Dine at eve, and then talk long, Dine by night, if you’d be wise

‘It must be a truly ancient family,’ I whispered to Jonas. ‘Look at her! Like a dryad. It might be a willow walking.’ ‘Those ancient families are the newest of all,’ he answered. ‘In ancient times there was nothing like them.’

they were called Corn Maidens.